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Saturday, February 21, 2015

Charleston Cooks! and Valentine's Weekend Recap

I hope everyone felt the love Valentine's weekend.

The hubs knows the way to my heart food, drinks, and yes, more food!

Friday we got dinner at Bone's. The food was so good I forgot to take photos, you know that means it was goooooood. We shared the smoked salmon appetizer. I ordered the 16oz NY Strip and the Hubs had the Dry Aged Bone-In Rib Eye with a side of Bacon Mac & Cheese. OMG the steak was sooooo tender and delicious. Best steak I have ever tasted. If you are a steak lover treat your self to a trip to Bone's. It is well worth it!

After dinner we headed out to Martini's and IMAX. I sipped on a champagne cocktail underneath the "world's largest dinosaur" before heading to the IMAX theater for "Galapagos:Nature's Wonderland". The movie was really entertaining, those narrators did a great job, my favorite part was the mating dance of the blue-footed booby. It was a very relaxing way to wrap up the night.

The next day we took a road trip down to Charleston, SC. Before the trip I hopped on the Airdyne for some intervals, I knew the day would be full of yummy treats and that I probably would not be able to get in a workout any other time. Oh, what a yummy time we had.

We spent the evening with Charleston Cooks! an interactive meal experience. 12 participants, 6 stations, and a 6 course meal in under 2 hours. Chefs get ready to work!

It sounds intimidating, but it was a really fun experience. Like a live version of Plated. All the ingredients were measured and prepped for us. Our task was to chop, assemble, and cook 1/6 of a 6 course menu. After a quick run down of kitchen etiquette, cutting skills, and a review of each station and its recipe each couple could choose a station. Here were our choices:

Mini Beef Wellingtons with Portabella Mushrooms and Ruby Port Sauce

Duck Confit and Mache Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Lobster Tail Thermidor with Mustard Butter Sauce

White Wine and Lemon Herb Sauteed Haricot Verts with Crispy Shallots

Shredded Beet and Red Potato Cakes

Nutella Cheesecake with Chocolate Cherry Crumble

We chose the White Wine and Lemon Herb Sauteed Haricot Verts with Crispy Shallots. The recipe seemed pretty straight forward and I figured worse case scenario no one will get sick or die if we got it wrong. Oh, but we did not get it wrong, we crushed it! Chef said the Haricot Verts were just the right texture and flavour. It really complimented the Lobster Tail Thermidor with Mustard Butter Sauce very nicely.

Anthony sauteing like a pro and plating our part of the meal

Our recipes/menu, appetizer, and main course

So if you enjoy cooking and trying new foods I highly encourage you to check out Charleston Cooks! next time you're in South Carolina. We got to meet some great people, eat fantastic food, have a full menu of recipes to try at home, and created some wonderful memories.